Protest over child mummies

They are the most perfectly preserved mummies in the world - their skin so intact that they look practically alive, their clothes still bright and new, the remains of their last meal still undigested inside their stomachs.

But plans to put on display the remains of three 500-year-old Inca children have run into resistance from Argentinian indigenous groups who consider the project an insult to their ancestors and even some scientists who have expressed misgivings about the project.

The mummies were found in 1999 by a National Geographic team on the 22,000-foot (6,700m) peak of Llullaillaco, a mountain in the Andes between Argentina and Chile. The three children, two girls and a boy aged between six and 15, were left on the peak to freeze to death in the 15th century, shortly before the arrival of Spanish colonists in America, apparently as a human sacrifice. But a combination of high altitude, low oxygen and humidity levels as well as zero-degree temperatures has produced a near-miraculous preservation.

The mummified remains are to go on display at the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology in Argentina's Salta province in November, and are expected to become a big tourist attraction. But opposition to the plan is growing.

Particularly outraged is the head of Argentina's indigenous association, Rogelio Guanuco, who represents 70% of the country's 868 indigenous communities, and refers to the three mummies as "our children".

"This is a violation of our loved ones," he said. "Our ancestors taught us our sacred places should not be touched. Llullaillaco continues to be sacred for us. They should never have profaned that sanctuary, and they should not put our children on exhibition as if in a circus."

Gabriel Miremont, the director of the Salta museum where the mummies will be displayed, has defended the project. "The disagreement comes from other tribes, but not from the Quechuas here in Salta, who are working jointly with us on this project," he said. "We provide the scientific support, but they will be in charge of the tribal rituals which will be performed here at the museum. They consider our museum a shrine."

But even high-ranking Argentinian museum officials are in disagreement.

"Today it is no longer considered ethical to put human remains on display," said Argentina's national museums director, Americo Castilla, who has no jurisdiction over provincial museums such as the one in Salta. Argentinian museums have adopted a policy of returning human remains to indigenous tribes.

Argentinian scientist Gustavo Politis, who has been at the forefront of the restitution of human remains to indigenous communities, is opposed. "The Llullaillaco children should not be displayed because that would affect the feelings of our ancestors," he said. "The display of mummies is one of the worst faces of archaeology."